Friends Make 1,000 Cranes For Classmate In Hospital

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Guadalupe Galeno Hernandez, a Minnesota girl who was paralyzed after getting shot, was visited by her friends Friday at the Gillette Children’s Hospital in St. Paul. They brought her several things and gave her good reason to laugh and giggle.

“Happy,” Guadalupe said. “It’s a long time since I have seen them.”

A bullet went through her spinal cord in November. Doctors say she likely won’t walk or dance again.

Now she’s working with physical and occupational therapists at the hospital. She sees them four hours a day and they work on speech and balance they also help her move her hands and arms.

In fact, doctors will likely remove the halo on Guadalupe’s head in a couple weeks. It’s there to stabilize her spinal cord and keep it in a good position to heal.

“I’m feeling stronger,” Guadalupe said.

Her mother is always with her in the hospital, but it can still get lonely.

“I just want to see her right now to see how she is and how she’s feeling,” said her friend and classmate, Jocelyn Cruz.

Guadalupe and Jocelyn go to Anwatin Middle School in Minneapolis together.

Jocelyn and her classmates want to cheer up Guadalupe, so they made a 1,000 paper cranes.

The cranes are based on a book the children read in class.

“We’re making them for Guadalupe! Hope she likes them,” said Jaime Guallpa. “It’s said if you fold a 1,000 cranes, you get one wish. And we’re hoping that wish can help Guadalupe. We just want her to feel better.”

The children wrote letters to their friend too.

“I don’t think she deserved to get shot,” Rigoberto Gonzalez wrote in his letter.

“Guadalupe, don’t give up. We are waiting for you with open arms,” wrote Jaime.

Guadalupe has been waiting to see them too. They stopped by to see her in her hospital room Friday afternoon, and it made her day

They brought Guadalupe some of the cranes they made, and they also brought her their heartfelt friendship.

The kids giggled, laughed and talked for an hour.

Guadalupe will remember this day because within her struggles, she’s found supportive friends who are helping her feel a bit better during recovery.